The mother and father of a girl discovered lifeless in a South Loop condominium constructing can bury their daughter after a choose denied her husband’s newest efforts to delay a funeral and reclaim custody of her stays.
Caitlin Tracey, 37, was found dead with a severed foot Oct. 27 on the backside of a stairwell in her husband’s condominium constructing. Police stated she had fallen 20 tales.
Her mother and father, Andrew and Monica Tracey, have since been concerned in a weekslong custody battle searching for to dam her husband, Adam Beckerink, from retrieving her stays — citing his alleged historical past of abuse in opposition to her and the suspicious circumstances of her demise.
The household believed this fight had come to an end Friday,when a Prepare dinner County choose upheld a Michigan ruling granting Tracey’s mother and father unique management over her stays and sole duty for her funeral preparations.
However on Monday, Beckerink filed an emergency movement searching for to halt funeral arraignments, giving him time to problem the Michigan ruling.
In court docket Wednesday, Prepare dinner County Decide Eve Reilly questioned Beckerink’s intentions for submitting the movement, as Tracey’s physique had already been launched to her mother and father and couldn’t be returned to the health worker’s workplace.
In a written ruling, Reilly denied Beckerink’s movement, stating that his legal professional had not addressed whether or not it was even potential that Tracey’s physique might be saved at some stage in an attraction, including, “Definitely, it doesn’t really feel simply or equitable to take action.”
The Tracey household can now transfer ahead with the “dignified memorial” they’ve deliberate for his or her daughter, in line with their legal professional.
“Nobody ought to need to bury their baby, a lot much less struggle a authorized battle to do it,” the Tracey’s legal professional, Andrew Cunniff, stated in an announcement Wednesday. “Fortunately, the best aspect prevailed, and Caitlin will stay along with her household the place she belongs.”
The police investigation into Tracey’s demise is ongoing.
Beckerink, a Chicago-based tax legal professional who was fired as associate of Duane Morris LLP after the case grew to become public, has not been charged with a criminal offense in connection along with her demise.
He was quickly detained for together with false info on a lacking individuals report he had filed about Tracey, hours earlier than her demise. He was later launched.
Within the report, Beckerink claimed that he returned to Chicago two days earlier, on Oct. 25, after spending time in Michigan and had not seen Tracey for a couple of month.
In the course of the investigation, detectives discovered constructing surveillance video exhibiting the 2 collectively on Oct. 24, in line with a Chicago police report.
In 2023, Tracey reported at the least two incidents of alleged home violence to Chicago police.
She was granted an order of safety in opposition to Beckerink in November of 2023, however later dropped the order after he threatened to sue her for defamation, in line with her mother and father’ petition to realize custody of her physique.
Beckerink has two energetic felony instances pending in Michigan, each home violence costs involving his spouse, in line with the petition.
